WHAT’S NEXT?
Abeni sat at the dining table, her appetite seemed to be on holiday. Femi raised his head up and looks at her, then looked at his mother, who had eaten the third spoon of her dish with her comfort.
Fem sighs and then clears his throat to distract Abeni.
“Babe!”
Femi called but Abeni had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear when Femi called.
Femi sighs.
“Babe!”
Femi called again but she still did not respond either to it. He had no choice but to hit the table to get her attention. Both his mother and Abeni jerked up.
“Kilode? (What?) What was that for eh Femi!”
His mother said first.
“Babe are you okay?”
Femi asked, totally ignoring what his mother asked him. Abeni shakes her head for a no while a tear dropped from his eyes. Femi looks at his mother and went over to where Abeni was and carries her to the bedroom. Mrs. Ayo looks at how Femi had ignored him, and how bad Abeni was feeling, she drops her fork and rested her back on the chair as her appetite was barely alive.
Femi drops Abeni on the bed and sits beside her rubbing her palms and looking at her eyes.
“What is really disturbing you, dear?”
Femi said looking at her eyes, he too needed emotional support.
“You could go on a personal vacation, to clear up your mind, I could order a ticket for you now”
Abeni looks at Femi and hugs him as she cries on his shoulder. Femi pats her back and leans on her too. If there was any couple goal one should imitate the love style of Femi and Abeni. They are both understanding to each other and they love and respect each other.
“We are in this together.”
Abeni said holding Femi’s face while hers was wet and moist.
Sniffs.
“I’m really sorry, I wouldn’t have gotten you into this mess, if I knew all this”
Abeni shakes her head for a No to make him say less of what he was saying.
“No, no! don’t say it; we are in this together.”
Abeni said as she hugged him back. Femi hugged her back and kissed her neck.
Mrs. Ayo comes in slowly into the room and saw how they held themselves, she feels very bad, but she waited for them to enjoy their moments first.
Femi turns around and see’s her but he is too pained to talk to her, he just thought of how hard it was for her too when she was younger just like Abeni. Abeni turns and looks at Mrs. Ayo and back to Femi and rests her head on Femi’s chest, her hands wrapped around his waist, Femi kissed her forehead.
“I love you. “
Femi whispered
“I love you too.”
she whispered the same.
Femi turns and looks at his mother again who stayed still on the wall of their room, but Femi still will not say a word to her either.
“Let go get ice cream, mm.”
Abeni nods her head for a yes and opens her arms, signifying that she wants Femi to carry her. Femi does what she asked for and reached the door, looks at his mother and takes his car keys from the door, and leaves, still not saying a word to her.
“It’s not my fault okay, so can we stop all this silent treatment and let’s talk?”
Mrs. Ayo shouted based on how far they had gone. But Femi made it clear not to still say a word to her. Mrs. Ayo sighs looking at Femi start up his car to leave.
“Very well then!”
She said in whispers and went back inside the house.
Femi starts the car, while Abeni kept her legs on his lap. Femi looks at her and she smiled.
“Your gender! Must you guys get all the attention, and pampering in the whole world? Na small ice cream where we wan go buy, you dey do like this eh! (Just for the little ice cream we are going to get, you’re already acting up).”
Abeni nods yes with a smile on her face, Femi pecks her forehead and set to drive the car out. It was late no doubt but wasn’t that a good time for going out? I mean as a couple.
If there’s anything Lagos City should be praised for is its ability to care extravagantly for its citizens by providing the best shopping malls and eateries. They arrived at their favorite spot for the day and they stopped to get their ice cream, they held hands together while walking. They got inside the mall, and Femi kept stealing glances at Abeni in his pajamas, smiling to himself. Abeni was totally unaware of what he was doing, she just got carried away by the lighting and the new ice cream flavors they displayed on the billboard. She finally comes to the realization of where she is but this time, she had gone a reasonable distance away from Femi who took his steps gently looking at his excellent choice> the pride and crown of every man.
They finally walked towards the ice cream stand, and Abeni stretched herself toward the counter.
“what’s making you this happy?”
Abeni turns around and smiles without saying a word either. They took out their ice cream and a plate of grilled fish and fries, they had the same order, they took it to the table inside there and settled to eat.
“You are the best thing that has happened to me.”
Femi said rubbing her hands. For sure, if there is anything Abeni loves about Femi is his ability to always get on her soft spot. He just knows how to deal well with words. The constant reminder of how dear she meant to him and reminding her of how pretty she looks just gives her a sense of security.
“Femi! Let us have a child.”
Femi blinks his eyes and choked, took a glass of water, and beats his chest slowly so he could recover.
“That is not what I meant, you this young lady, how did you even go as far as that to even think of….”
Femi said, looking at her and shaking his head. Abeni smiles, thinking about it. Femi might not be ready to have a child until he has dealt with what came up, but Abeni doesn’t want Femi’s blood lineage to just end because of any generational practice, so she came up with a plan that only her knows the depth to what she will do. She snaps off her thought and took the middle part of the grilled fish with her hands and she eats it up. Femi, on the other hand, took his mind back to what Abeni said and he shakes his head.
Abeni to some point told Femi about her fear of childbearing and the phobia she has of it. Femi isn’t bothered, as far as she isn’t barren, he had promised to wait for her till she’s ready for a child, but that doesn’t stop the average couple’s romance and advancement.
Femi smiles again knowing the truth that he made the best choice ever.
“If you’re ready, I am.”
Femi said to Abeni with an eager face of seriousness while the tail of the fish he held with his hands.
Abeni raised her head and swallowed hard.
“Ready for what?”                                                                       
She asked, pretending not to know what Femi spoke about.
“Having a child.”
“Why do you make it so specific, like it's one you want to have.”
Abeni said taking a piece of the fried yam into her mouth.
“I do not wish to have a second”
Abeni looks at him for a while and decides to swap back the environment’s mood.
“We came here to feel better and not sobber. If it’s one child you want, then I’ll give you one child.”
Femi smiles at how bold she speaks of getting pregnant as though she has forgotten her fears.
“And your fears?”
“You’ll help me out, won’t you?”
Femi gave the statement a silly smile and Abeni responded back with a brow movement.
The table was silent for a long time, so Abeni thought of breaking the silence with a serious conversation about what next, they will do, concerning the fact that he is the next on line.
“You’re scared to have a second child because of what?”
“I don’t want the same practice to go on.”
“Are you planning to accept the choice?”
“Apart from death, is there any positive thing to do?”
“So, what’s the need of having a child we won’t even be alive to watch grow.”
Femi turns immediately and stares at her at the mention of we.
“What do you mean by us?”
“I am not ready to be a widow, and existence will make less sense.”
Femi sighs.
“Then we shouldn’t have a child then.”
“let’s go back to the car. I have lost my appetite.”
Femi said as she stood up and walked an inch away from the table. Abeni wanted to feel bad for spoiling his mood after all but this was a very delicate matter and she or rather both of them had to talk things out. Abeni still sat down looking at him, Femi stretched his hands forward towards her direction and she held his hands and gets up and followed him and they went back to their car. He didn’t say a word to her till they were home, Abeni was about to go out first, the whole place was too hot, but Femi dragged her back and kissed her, and further romances were made.
Mrs. Ayo was still inside the house waiting for them to be out of the car, but their delay made her worried, so she went to see for herself. But as she came out of the house, the two were laughing drunk and Femi locks his car, ignoring the poor woman, but Mrs. Ayo won’t take it anymore.
“Femi Dayo Oluwafemi!!!!!”
Femi stops, turns around, and looks at his mother.
“Mrs. Ayo!”
Femi said standing attention and backing her, but Abeni really wanted Femi to talk things out with his mother, maybe she might just have the answer to this mess they are in.
“You still haven’t answered my question, and you dare to call me by my full name?”
“Let’s talk Femi.”
“I do not want to talk with you, and there is nothing to talk about.”
Femi said getting pissed, Abeni looks at him, his breathing was beginning to increase.
“Mum, I’ll talk to him, let’s go inside please, this noise, and shouting is not healthy for the night, please, let’s go inside.”
Abeni said trying to cool off the toxic nature of the current environment.
Femi barges out of there leaving Abeni with his mother. Abeni though was finding it annoying so she pleads with his mother to take it easy on him, she promises to talk to him.
“Where are the children?”
“They are sleeping.”
“Okay!”
“Don’t think much okay? Let’s just take it that he is going through some tough times, but ma! I will talk to him about it. He’ll respond by tomorrow.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
This time, Mrs. Ayo was already in tears. Abeni notices it and was not only heart melted but upset that what Femi is doing is really uncalled for.
“Ah! Ma! No no! no! no naww you don’t have to cry, ah!”
She runs upstairs to get Femi.
“What’s all this nonsense eh Femi! Why are you giving your mother a hard time? If your aim was to make her cry then well-done cause you’ve gotten a bonus, she’s about to murder herself. Now could you be so unreasonable? What’s all this uncalled-for manner and attitude? What is wrong with you?”
“Whose side are you on?”                                
“Your mother!”
“Huh!”
“Yes! are you surprised? You better take your proud account of this room and go listen to her. Haven’t you given her too much attitude already, I mean Femi this is really not called for.”
“What do you want?”
“You are going to follow me down and hear out what your mother says.”
Femi sighs and lays back on the bed.
“Can we do this tomorrow morning?” I’m already stressed.”
“I mean now, you are getting up now.”
She said going to drag him off the bed but instead got dragged into the bed. Abeni struggled with him that she meant what she said. So, he had to follow her downstairs out of his own will.
She rushed him downstairs, and they met Mrs. Ayo just sitting so blank, Abeni rushes to her and touches her shoulder, and as though She pressed a start-up button for tears, Mrs. Ayo wailed out that she couldn’t hold herself, she spoke amidst crying and shouting.
“Why are you treating me this way Femi, why? It’s my fault I married into a generational thing I don’t know about. Do you think it’s easy for me, was, do you think it was ever easy for me?”
Sniffs.
“It's like this guy uses a charm or something, there’s nothing you will do that you can totally escape it. Your father, your father didn’t want it, but I just didn’t know what happened to him, then he told me that has going to accept it.”
Stammers. Sniffs.
Shouts.
“It has never been easy, so you don’t have any right to treat me like this, no! I watched, I watched Rotimi look horrible every single day. Knowing the truth and not being able to use it hurts so much, so you have no idea at all.”
“it’s you who allowed it.”
Femi fired at her.
“I will not permit you to say whatever you want to say anymore to your mother, stop being disrespectful. Stop it”
Femi looks at Abeni and sighs, bouncing himself on the chair to listen to his mother.
“Fine, if you’re going to sit there and blame me then go ahead, but I just tell you a few things you need to know, first you should know that you cannot hide from them, they will always, always find you. Secondly, they are always watching you. And yes, the only way to escape this is death, but it’s a very painful one which means wiping away your whole family and the blood lineage of the Oluwafemi’s.”
She said, slightly in pain. Sniffs.
“Your father and I wanted to reject this, but who knows what fate had for us. But I hear that the only way to stop this-------”
“so there was a way to end this?”
Femi cuts in as that was his only interest in the whole story.
“Yes, there was, but it wasn’t a comfortable way.”
That wasn’t the case for Femi! Anything he would do to make him return to a happy and everyday life.
“What was the way out of this mess.”
“A sacrifice of an unknown child. It could be an orphan, two, two children, that will represent your first and second children.”
Femi hears the condition and sits back on the Sofa. Abeni sits back and sighs. Abeni at this point was more than at a loss of words.
“And what happens to the third child?”
“Nothing applies to them. They are free. “
As she sits back and Femi still concludes that he is not going to for any reason have his hand in the killing of any innocent soul or the suffering of any of his children. Femi stands up and looks at Abeni and then his mother.
“I am still not going to go into this. Babe, shall we”
He stretches his hand towards her, and she took his hand and rubs Mrs. Ayo’s shoulder, reassuring her that God will make a way.
#
They reached their room and Femi fell first on the bed with his face slammed on the bed. Abeni finds her way to the other side of the bed.
“Can we just cuddle this night”
“Femi said with his face almost close to her cheeks.”
“Are you not just worried about what may happen or how we are going to go through this together, eh!”
“Where has thinking too much-taken anyone to? or what has overthought solved, don’t tell me you have allowed this small thing take or shaken the basis of your faith. Who do you believe in? don’t limit him again. We are going to be alive and yet not practice any of what has been done, thank God Rotimi had set the major ground on fire. I’ll do so to that gallery soon.”
“Babe!!!”
Femi smiles and drags her to himself.
“You owe God an apology, you also have to ask him for serious mercy.”
Abeni smiles and hugs him back.
“I went to the old Church earlier this morning when I left here.”
“The old church? For what?”
“Confess my sins and give my life to God”
“Why do I find this funny, but for what?
“So that I will have what to trust in, who to trust and believe in, and why.”  
“So don’t infect me with your disbelief
”Disbelieve? How can you say that!”
“Babe! It’s going to be tough, but promise me you are going to trust in God, and believe in him till this is washed away. We are not the first to experience generational practices, and as sad as this sounds, we will not be the last either. So, all that fear and disbelief I want you to end it Okay!”
“Copied”
Abeni said, squeezing herself on him as he covered themselves well with the blanket.
Faith being tasted, could one call this scenario that?
Mrs. Ayo just didn’t want Femi to hate her either, as Rotimi grew to hate her and finally died because of some family ritual.
“So, these guys just come up with something that will hurt one so dearly, what an evil practice.”
Rotimi said to Mitchell who had her legs crossed on the sofa as Rotimi changes the view to Oluwaseyi who was busy with his system.
Rotimi smiles watching Oluwaseyi work and not drinking up himself.
“Please be fine okay!”
She said as she throws herself on the sofa too, thinking of the next step to do to help them out. She hopes they have books in there that could talk about these things. Mitchell and Rotimi had grown a bond and they planned to stay together and remain happy.
"I pray God helps Femi, it's really a sad practice. The impossible fact to remember is the fact that my knows about this."
" It's fine...you will survive"
Mitchell said rubbing Rotimi's shoulder.